You can't make me read that!!!

One of the problems with the lack of motivation is that students are forced to view what is important because we, teachers, tell them that it is important. I remember when I was in high school and we were forced to read Shakespeare and hating. It was not until I went to college and learned about the canon or should I say the Western canon of literature. Wikipedia states that the pieces of canon have been the most important and influential in shaping the Western culture. Or, as I was taught that the canon are novels that are timeless and be applied to any generation. Nowadays and even when I was in school, the school district would mandate that we teach specific books every semester for every grade level.

I think many students get frustrated because they cannot relate to the novels that are thrown at them. If we have to push these books on our students then at least we can give them alternatives outside the demanded readings. When I would at a native boarding school years ago, my students were reading Achenua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. The book incorporated a lot of proverbs to help simplify and as a display of culture. To help the students better relate to the incoming colonization (forgive me if I ruined the story) and their own experience, students were to bring in proverbs and folklore from their own tribes and culture and then interpret them for the class. This help to show the students that even a Nigerian tribe can have a lot in common with a Native American tribe.

Students also have a problem with required reading materials because of the simple questions: What does this have to with our lives now? This is why we must always bring in outside materials to help complement a novel. Too many of us lay out vocabulary, have students read the chapter and have them answer the questions. It is great to incorporate current events along with a section of the story to show them that what is happening in the story is also happening now.

Another reason that students are unmotivated with class readings is because we never take chances with our text. We, as educators are always playing it same because we do not want our students to be exposed to issues that they probably already have been exposed to. A lot of the problem is not that we are afraid to expose our students to issues that are relevant but many times, we have to get materials approved and proves to be a problem. I remember teaching To Kill a Mockingbird and then hearing a segment on NPR that was discussing the fact that Kansas banned the book due to the racism and the use of the “N” word. God forbid that I student realize that America had a racist past.

Yes, we need to make good use of novels and textbooks but we cannot expect them to teach the class for us. We need to always be ready to innovate and keep our student interested and stimulated. If not, we might as well go make to worksheets and regurgitation.